Geisha Gone Gaga

Geisha (or Gesha, depending on your point of view—more on that below) coffee has entirely taken the coffee world by storm, fetching green bean prices triple, and in some cases well over 10 times, prices for other varietals. Scarce supply and growing demand—which we’ve written about before—certainly contributes to sky high prices, but another factor lurks in the background: it’s good.

Or so the cupping scores seem to indicate. At the 2023 Kona Coffee Festival, for example, Kona grown Geisha crushed the competition at scores of 88 and farmers for the 2024 competition in November are already angling to submit more Geisha. Panama Geisha has scored at 90, making it one of the most renowed Geisha producers in the world. And other regions are beginning to grow Geisha, hoping for the same results—Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Columbia.

Is it the real thing? Coffee afficionadoes are not immune to the quality-price phenomenon where higher prices increase perceived quality, a point we’ve made here, so there’s no doubt some of that at play with Geisha. Those lucky roasters able to get Geisha coffee from desired regions such as Kona—ourselves included—rely on close relationships with farmers for the treasured bean, often securing beans for upcoming pickings even before they are cupped. The supply-demand imbalance is upending the normal coffee distribution chain.

Pretty crazy for a bean that’s been around for decades. According to the World Coffee Research Center, the varietal was first discovered naturally in Ethiopia’s coffee forrests close to a mountain called Gesha around 1930. It then made its way to Central America’s Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza in 1953 where it was recorded as varietal T2722 of Arabica, or “Geisha” as transliterated from the Ethiopian Gesha. But farmers didn’t love it—the plant was susceptible to coffee berry disease (a fungal infection), wasn’t great against coffee rust (another fungal disease), its brittle branches made picking more difficult, and it took years to mature. Thus the varietal languished as a curiosity until 2005, when a Panamanian estate entered the varietal into Panama’s coffee competition and—much to everyone’s surprise—took the crown, fetching the highest prices Panama had ever seen at auction.

Now the world took notice and everyone wanted Geisha. But as coffee researchers further analyzed Panama’s seemingly incredible Geisha, they discovered Panama’s Geisha differed from the original Ethiopian Gesha-grown T2722. Most people refer to the Panamanian varietal as “Geisha” and coffee geeks are trying to resuscitate “Gesha” as the name to bring back its Ethiopian heritage, even though it’s now recognized as a distinct varietal.

Now here lies the quandry. Since Geisha burst on the scene almost twenty years go, fetching insane prices, what do farmers do? Panama already had an edge in planting Geisha before 2005, but even Panamanian farmers face the same choice as others: Do they plant new Geisha instead of existing varietals (or wait until existing shrubs need to be uprooted anyway)? Where to plant them? And many of the factors that initially made Geisha unpopular—sensitivity to disease, long gestation times, and brittle branches—still remain.

What then? Experiment! Farmers have methodicaly been planting and cultivating Geisha at different altitudes, with different methods and even grafts with varying success trying to maintain the best of Geisha while managing some of its downsides. Geisha loves altitude, which is why Hawaii is closing the gap on Geisha quality, though production still remains low.

Back to the question—is it the real thing? That’s for you to decide. Our advice is to try for yourself, particularly different growing regions. Hawaiian Geisha tastes different than Central American Geisha. While both have many of Geisha’s core characterestics—sweet, floral, slightly tart fruits—Hawaiian coffee is less acidic, lighter and more mellow given its volcanic soil and high altitudes. Central American Geisha’s can be more intense with heavier bodies.

Either way, we’re very excited to have secured Geisha from Kona, coming in November’s picking. Try some for yourself and tell us what you think!